Computer maker HP has been struggling as its stock price drops on increasingly poor computer sales. According to research firm Gartner, Lenovo took advantage of HP’s weakened state and is now the number one PC maker in the world as of Q3 2012.

During Q3, global shipments of PCs fell by over 8% to 87.5 million units shipped. That represents the most dramatic decline since 2001, according to Gartner. Demand for PCs is declining as consumers move to portable devices such as tablets and smartphones for their basic computing needs.

"It's quite a tough year for PC makers because (Microsoft's) Windows 8 is not launched yet and some consumers are waiting for that. Cannibalization of tablet PCs is also another factor," said Eve Jung, an analyst with Nomura Securities in Taipei.

Lenovo IdeaPad S300

Interestingly, research firm IDC still ranks HP as the number one computer vendor so the numbers between Lenovo and HP have to be very close. IDC has HP in the lead by less than half of a percentage point in terms of global PC shipments.

Both Gartner and IDC numbers show that Asian computer makers such as Acer are beginning to take share away from U.S. companies such as HP and Dell. Dell was able to hold on to the number three spot in the global computer market for the quarter. HP currently holds 15.5% of the global PC market and shipped 13.55 million computers.

That number represents a 16.4% decrease in shipments from a year ago. This quarter is the first since 2006 where Gartner hasn't ranked HP as the top computer vendor. Gartner has Lenovo holding 15.7% of the market with 13.77 million computers shipped.

Lenovo recently announced that it would manufacture some of its “Think” branded devices in North Carolina.